about.txt
Solitaire games are played with a standard 52-card deck. Most of the games proceed in the following way: Some or all of the cards are distributed face up in some distinctive array, forming the "tableau." The tableau, together with any other cards dealt at the outset are often called the "layout.
The initial array may be changed by "building" - transferring cards among the face-up cards in the tableau. Certain cards of the tableau can be played at once, while others may not be played until certain blocking cards are removed.
The first objective is to release and play into position certain cards called "foundations." In most Solitaire games, the four aces are the bottom card or base of the foundations, and the objective is usually to build up each foundation, in sequence and in suit, from the ace through the king. The ultimate objective is to build the whole pack onto the foundations, and if that can be done, the Solitaire game is "won."
If the entire pack is not laid out in a tableau at the beginning of a game, the remaining cards form the stock (or "hand") from which additional cards are brought into play according to the rules. Cards from the stock that have no place in the tableau or on foundations are laid face up in a separate pile called the "talon" or "waste pile."
In some games, the layout includes a special packet of cards called the "reserve," which the player attempts to use by turning up and playing one card at a time. In many games, a vacancy in the tableau created by the removal of cards elsewhere is called a "space," and it is of major importance in manipulating the tableau. In some games, a space can only be filled in with a king The rank of cards in Solitaire games is: K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A.
Created by Marshall Asch. March 31, 2015